Sunday, June 17, 2007

Michael Franti is a pretty incredible human being and makes good music to boot. He made this documentary traveling through Iraq, Israel and Palestine. He went around with just a guitar, a video camera, and an interpreter, and talked with U.S. soldiers, native soldiers, and people in the streets, homes and hospitals. His message is the importance of communication, and it really hits home when you see him getting Israeli soldiers talking with Palestinians over that crazy big fence they're building.

[Thanks to Quena for first playing me "Red Beans and Rice" way back in Costa Rica, and for Antonia for introducing me to the rest of Michael Franti & Spearhead's stuff.]

Thursday, June 14, 2007

And by and large, I'd say they're right. Very strong group of dancers in this year's So You Think You Can Dance. I'm definitely pre-disposed towards Lacey Schwimmer, being the sister of Benji, my last-year favorite (not to mention actual winner). Plus, she has a good name for a sister. :-) I'm yet not she has quite the same spark Benji did, though, plus it'll be a lot tougher for her since the judges won't want it to look like favoritism. Hok is another one I'm enjoying watching so far, and I'm really curious to see how he does when he gets to some sort of ballroom dancing. But I think I'm going to have to see more of everybody before I make a call.

One thing I'm noticing more this year is how the choreographers are really adapting their dances to the dancers. You can really tell which moves in a hip hop routine were only put in there for the benefit of a contemporary dancer. I expect this was going on last year too, but I wasn't realizing it as much.

Friday, June 08, 2007

It's a pity I never got around to dancing (or playing or writing) any cubed slip jigs last year. But I think I'm ready for 27 to be done, even though I'm still working out what I think about 28. It has a very solid, organized feel to it. If you cube root the 8, you get three more 2s after the one in the ten's place, and you can't get much more stable than a square of four 2s. After balancing and wobbling on the pointed end of the 27 for so long, it's like a tetris block falling neatly, gaplessly into place. At least, I like to think that's how it will be.